It wasn’t the best night for the Langley Thunder’s offense to have their poorest showing in the National Championships, in Peterborough, Ontario. Averaging nearly 13 goals per game in the opening three contests, the Thunder only managed eight on Wednesday night and fell one goal short, dropping game four 9-8 to the Peterborough Lakers. It was the third game so far in this year’s Mann Cup to be decided by just one goal.

Once again, Athan Iannucci was the leading force for the Western Champions but his 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) weren’t enough to lift the Thunder to a 3-1 series lead. They’ll now have to find a way to win two out of the next three if they hope to break a seven-year and a 26 year drought for the Western Lacrosse Association.

3700 fans packed the Memorial Centre in Peterborough and were once again treated to a fantastic back and forth game in which the hometown Lakers never trailed. John Grant Jr, still battling an injury suffered late in game two, had a six point night to lead all scores but it was the play of Mikey Thompson that was the real story of game 4. Thompson, who replaced starting goalie Tyler Carlson in game three, got the nod tonight and made 26 saves for the win. There seemd to be no solution to Thompson’s efforts but late in the third, the Thunder were able to start scoring from the outside which allowed them to get back to within one goal but it was too late.

There’s no panic in the Thunder dressing room but all the momentum is in favour of the Lakers. Head Coach Jamie Batley, has made the appropriate changes to help his team win back to back games. Now, what does Langley head coach Rod Jensen have up his sleeve to turn the tide. Something needs to be done or else those two early wins out of the gate, will be for not.

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